Social Entrepreneurship and the Common Brand

As GOOD magazine reported yesterday, Alex Bogusky and John Bielenberg, have launched a new social entrepreneurship platform called COMMON that is part incubator and part creative community that enables collaboration to find better solutions to pressing social problems.

Bogusky, who transformed Crispin, Porter, Bogusky into a creative powerhouse, Rob Schuham, former head of the marketing agency AMG and think tank Undercurrent, and Bielenberg who led the global design collective Project M, share the goal of creating companies whose concepts, execution and core values better serve the interests of more people and promote wider prosperity.

Their first initiative is the Alabamboo Bike Lab project started by Project M as Common Cycles designed to create affordable transportation and employment opportunities but the intention is to expand the COMMON brand across multiple product categories and industries through the inspiration and ingenuity of a community of creative entrepreneurs.

Whether its the launch of the COMMON brand, crowd-funded and purposeful ad platforms such asLoudsauce, or technological and entrepreneurial support groups like Pando Projects, each demonstrates the desire for a new relationship between brands and consumers.

Each is an expression of We First capitalism that recognizes that we are all part of a mutually dependent globally community whose best interests are served by also serving the needs of others. It is only through such an expanded definition of self-interest that we can remake our world, redress the damage done in the past and hope to leave a healthier planet for the next generation.

Do you believe that business can evolve to better serve the interests of others? Or does it require a restart and new brands if we hope to build a sustainable future?

Simon Mainwaring is the founder of We First, the leading social branding firm that provides consulting and training to help companies use social media to build their brand reputation, profits and soci…

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I believe business has already evolved to better serve the interests of others. I also believe that creative collaboration will ratchet that evolution up to a revolution. Technology enables and even mandates collaborative thinking that comes up with information and ideas more quickly than the silo-ed thinking of old. And the public is demanding more social consciousness.